Raikkonen hearing 'the same old story' when it comes to his future

Despite the passing years, speculation about Kimi Raikkonen's future remains unchanged, with pundits invariably predicting the Finn will call it a day at the end of the season.

With the exception of a two-year hiatus in 2010 and 2011, during which he tried his hand at rallying, Raikkonen has been a Grand Prix driver for the better part of sixteen years, winning the world championship with Ferrari in 2007.

His second stint with the Scuderia, which started in 2014, hasn't yielded any race wins.

With his current contract expiring at the end of the season, and with Red bull's Daniel Ricciardo rumored to be lurking in the wings, a definitive exit from the sport appears likely.

• Vettel says battle with Raikkonen 'not one-sided'

Raikkonen however says he's heard all the speculation before, but won't give anything away about his plans for the future.

"It’s been the same story every year since I can remember, maybe 15 years, every year I’m out," said the 3-year-old.

"If you keep saying the same thing, sooner or later it becomes true and you get it right.

"I’ll do my stuff on my side. I enjoy the racing, that’s the only reason I’m here. The rest we’ll see how it plays out.

"There’s always a lot of talking every year, not a lot of it is true, but we’ll see how it ends up."

Despite trailing team mate Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' standing, Raikkonen has actually enjoyed a strong start to his 2018 campaign. Perhaps a competitive year would provide the right incentive to bow out on a high?

"In the team we know what we want to do and if all those things fit together with all our feelings we’ll see what happens," he said.

"Right now all I want is to do well, it’s a long season and a long way until the end of the year."

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